Team finals lineup?

[Mrs. Puma]

When will they announce the line ups for team finals? And since you're all more knowledgable than me, what are your predictions? I assume Simone will do all four? What about floor-it's got to be Simone and Ali, but who do you leave off? Laurie beat Gabby in qualifications...I would love to see her routine again!

 

[wandrewsjr]

Yes, think Simone all 4, Gabby vt/Ub, Laurie bb/fx, Madison ub, Aly vt/bb/fx. This is what Martha would have picked before qualifications and their performances in qualifying cemented it.

 

[gymcoach1]

Im guessing vault - gabby Aly Simone
Bars- Simone gabby Maddie
Beam-Aly Laurie Simone
Floor- Laurie (maybe gabby) Aly Simone

 

[HoldThePhone]

I can see Simone doing all four events, Aly on everything but bars.

Madison and Gabby on bars.

Laurie on beam and floor.

Gabby on vault? Laurie? Seems like if they put Laurie in, it's almost admitting she should have been in the hunt for the all around.

I'm just glad it's not me deciding.

 

[Gymmommy71]

I think after the results in qualifying, they could put *me* in for one event and still win the team gold. Okay, maybe not me, but I'm sure my DD would be good enough provided she didn't fall - haha.

It's cool we're so dominate, but a 10 point lead? Geesh - that means we could count a score under 10 and still win.

Knowing the extreme level of our dominance, I don't see why we didn't figure out a way to get Mikayla in the mix so we'd be in the running for a 2nd vault medal. We were clearly deeper than we needed to be on beam being that all 4 of us would have made EF (and that's w/ Aly having a pretty big mistake).

 

[gasrgoose]

I think after the results in qualifying, they could put *me* in for one event and still win the team gold. Okay, maybe not me, but I'm sure my DD would be good enough provided she didn't fall - haha.

It's cool we're so dominate, but a 10 point lead? Geesh - that means we could count a score under 10 and still win.

Knowing the extreme level of our dominance, I don't see why we didn't figure out a way to get Mikayla in the mix so we'd be in the running for a 2nd vault medal. We were clearly deeper than we needed to be on beam being that all 4 of us would have made EF (and that's w/ Aly having a pretty big mistake).

The US domination is kinda absurd, there isn't a team even remotely close. But who would you leave off to give Skinner a spot? Everyone made an event finals. I'm a Kocian fan and like her chances of gold on bars.

As a sidebar the 3 alternates look to be making the best of their situation. Kudos to the young ladies and their coaches!

 

[Gymmommy71]

The US domination is kinda absurd, there isn't a team even remotely close. But who would you leave off to give Skinner a spot? Everyone made an event finals. I'm a Kocian fan and like her chances of gold on bars.

As a sidebar the 3 alternates look to be making the best of their situation. Kudos to the young ladies and their coaches!

You could have left off either Aly or Laurie to get that 2nd vault medal - take your pick. Aly OR Gabby would have qualified for that 2nd beam EF had Laurie not been there. And if Aly not there Laurie (or Mikayla) would have qualified for floor. The few extra points any of these people bring to the team really isn't significant at this point, so in my mind that strategy should have been more about medal maximizing - but maybe Marta didn't realize just HOW dominate we'd be.

My DD made an interesting point about the 10 point lead - you could take that 2 ways - go out and throw all your most difficult yet inconsistent skills and try to get a bunch of stuff named after you , and/or get insane scores (knowing that if you fall, no big deal), or you could play it super safe and downgrade everything so there's no pressure or injuries.

Of course, in case we were seriously over-scored, it's probably best to just do it all the same as qualifying .

 

[Natasha]

Why not just take the top 3 scores from qualifications? Let the girls that earned it based on qualifications be the ones to compete.

 

[shelovestoflip]

The US domination is kinda absurd, there isn't a team even remotely close. But who would you leave off to give Skinner a spot? Everyone made an event finals. I'm a Kocian fan and like her chances of gold on bars.

As a sidebar the 3 alternates look to be making the best of their situation. Kudos to the young ladies and their coaches!

I agree about the alternates…I've followed them along on instagram (and Ragan's coach, too) and it seems they are happy and enjoying the experience the best they can. The experience and bond is something they will remember even if they didn't compete.

 

[beachgirl]

I have also enjoyed following the alternates and their excellent sportsmanship.

 

[wandrewsjr]

Why not just take the top 3 scores from qualifications? Let the girls that earned it based on qualifications be the ones to compete.

That is pretty much what it will be. Only toss up is between Laurie and Gabby on vt, only separated by I think 0.034 in qualifying, though Gabby fairly consistently scores a tenth or two higher, really a toss up.

 

[Lisbeth]

Line ups are posted. Laurie will be doing vault - Gabby bars only.
Does anyone know what event team USA will start on?

 

[3gymgirls]

Which vault will Simone do in team finals? Execution scores were equal on both last night. The Cheng has a higher start value, but the Amanar seems to carry some prestige.

 

[Empowered]

I am really surprised Laurie is vaulting. The difference between the 2 is so slight, I would've thought Martha would've gone with the veteran. She had to throw in one last twist before retirement!

Kudos to Laurie for earning that spot!

 

[Natasha]

Reality is USA is so far ahead, they could just about draw names out of a hat and still win, so it really doesn't matter if it is Gabby or Laurie. I'm just glad Marta let the scores from preliminaries speak for themselves. Really, unless one of the athletes needed the rest, it makes the most sense to just let it be the top 3 from the scores and for once just let the scores alone decide. Give the honor to each girl that earned it.

 

[Mrs. Puma]

Which vault will Simone do in team finals? Execution scores were equal on both last night. The Cheng has a higher start value, but the Amanar seems to carry some prestige.

I'm no expert, but I'd have to guess Amanar for team finals and Cheng for event finals? I believe her E score was the same for both in qualifications. Good question!

 

[Sasha]

Why did we not have Gabby, Aly, or Laurie compete a 2nd vault and try for vault event final? Do they just not have a 2nd vault from a different family? I'm guessing that must be it...

Just looking at the top 8 qualifiers and the 8th place score was a 14.850. I can't actually find the USA vault scores anywhere from qualifying day, but seems like the vaults our team did so (besides Simone who got the 16's) were in at least that ballpark.

 

[sce]

Why did we not have Gabby, Aly, or Laurie compete a 2nd vault and try for vault event final? Do they just not have a 2nd vault from a different family? I'm guessing that must be it...

Just looking at the top 8 qualifiers and the 8th place score was a 14.850. I can't actually find the USA vault scores anywhere from qualifying day, but seems like the vaults our team did so (besides Simone who got the 16's) were in at least that ballpark.

Most don't train a second vault.

 

[wandrewsjr]

I am really surprised Laurie is vaulting. The difference between the 2 is so slight, I would've thought Martha would've gone with the veteran. She had to throw in one last twist before retirement!

Kudos to Laurie for earning that spot!

Agree, I am a little surprised. The scoring difference is so slight I would have thought the prior experience of competing in an Olympic team final would have pushed the choice towards Gabby. But Laurie has more than proven herself up to the task so far.

 

[Sasha]

Most don't train a second vault.

That's what I figured. Curious why not? Since the 1 vault they did perform was strong. I guess I don't know much about elite level vaulting decisions.